Here & Now

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Jeremy Hobson & Robin Young

Supreme Court rulings. Breaking news. Thoughtful interviews. A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with public radio stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it’s happening in the middle of the day, with timely, smart and in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Co-hosted by award-winning journalists Robin Young and Jeremy Hobson, the show’s daily lineup includes interviews with NPR reporters, editors and bloggers, as well as leading newsmakers, innovators and artists from across the U.S. and around the globe. Here & Now began at WBUR in 1997, and expanded to two hours in partnership with NPR in 2013. Today, the show reaches an estimated 3.6 million weekly listeners on over 383 stations across the country. Stay connected to what’s happening…right now…with Here & Now from NPR and WBUR.

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NPR Story

12:00 pm

Thu July 10, 2014

BNSF Railway, the second largest freight network in the U.S., is at the center of the boom in crude by rail. The railroad touts its commitment to safety. Current and former workers question the safety culture on the ground. (Michael Werner)

Crude oil shipments by rail increased by more than 80 percent, nationally, last year. Most of it is coming from the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota. That crude is more flammable than other types of oil, and has been shown to catch fire and explode when trains derail.

More than 15 trains of Bakken oil move through some parts of the Northwest each week, en route to refineries and terminals in Washington and Oregon.

The Battle of Wanat is one of the bloodiest battles of the war in Afghanistan. Nine American soldiers were killed and more than two dozen were wounded when hundreds of insurgents assaulted the Army outpost they were building in Waygal Valley on July 13, 2008. It was just after 4 o’clock that morning when the American soldiers were blasted with machine guns, rocket propelled grenades and hand grenades.

When author Cammie McGovern’s oldest son was diagnosed with autism, she looked for an outlet where he could be with other children with similar difficulties. That led her to form the group “Whole Children,” an after-school and weekend program for children with disabilities.

Now, a decade later, those kids spurred her to write the new young adult novel “Say What You Will” (excerpt below).

Citigroup and the Justice Department are reportedly closing in on a $7 billion deal that would settle allegations that the bank sold shoddy mortgages in the run up to the 2008 financial crisis.

The deal is expected to be announced in the next week and comes after months of tense negotiations between the bank and government officials — negotiations that became so tense that in June, the Justice Department threatened to sue if the bank did not agree to the government’s proposed penalty.

Baseball fans in many cities, including Kansas City, can no longer count on the price of single game tickets during the season. Teams are using variable ticket pricing and selling tickets according to projected attendance.

From the Here & Now Contributors Network, Greg Echlin of KCUR reports that teams are looking at factors including the opposing team, day of the week and who’s on the pitching mound.

NPR Story

12:12 pm

Mon July 7, 2014

Olga Bielkova, a member of Ukraine’s parliament says, “what is happening between us and Russia right now is a threat to the whole of Europe; Russia is just testing grounds for what it could to do other countries.”

Bielkova told Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson that Ukraine is better prepared to take on pro-Russian separatists, and she thinks that the government will begin winning hearts in Eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian sentiment runs strong.

NPR Story

12:12 pm

Mon July 7, 2014

GoPro stock options began trading today, less than two weeks after it went public. The company, which makes wearable point-of-view action cameras, has come a long way since it was born 10 years ago. GoPro is now one of the best selling cameras in the world, and it’s spawned a whole new category of cameras.

Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson talks to Lauren Goode, reporter and review columnist for Re/code, about GoPro’s success, its competitors and the future of wearable cameras.

City leaders in Leawood, Kansas tonight will take up 9-year-old Spencer Collins‘ Little Free Library.

The boy had put up a slightly larger than a birdfeeder box containing a free book exchange in his front yard, but a neighbor complained it was an eyesore and “an illegal detached structure” that violated the town’s zoning ordinances.

NPR Story

12:10 pm

Fri July 4, 2014

Ben Franklin is arguably the most famous American ever. His youngest sister Jane is mostly lost to history. But a Harvard historian found her in the letters she and her brother exchanged over their long lives.

They were called Benny and Jenny, and Benny wrote more letters to Jenny than he did to anyone else. Most of his survive; many of her’s do not.

In today’s “On Stage” segment, we look at the art of storytelling, which has taken off in venues across the country.

We go to Orlando, Florida, and the Orlando Story Club. The club was co-founded by South African-born Robin Cowie, who has a background in bringing powerful stories to life as a former Hollywood producer. He helped launch the pseudo-reality horror genre as co-producer of the 1999 film, “The Blair Witch Project.”

NPR Story

12:10 pm

Fri July 4, 2014

A screen displays the Dow at 17,041.23 on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during the morning of July 3 in New York City. The Dow Jones passed 17,000 for the first time today, as economy continues to recover. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

NPR Story

11:58 am

Thu July 3, 2014

A LG representative shows a smartphone with Home Chat in front of a LG smart refrigerator during the 2014 International CES, January 10 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The LG Smart Home system with the Home Chat smart platform allows users to communicate with home appliances via text message. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)

Our homes are becoming more and more connected. Thermostats, televisions, lights and appliances can all be controlled remotely by our smartphones, tablets and computers, with smart-home software.

But Gunter Ollman, chief technology officer of tech security firm IOActive, tells Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson that technology has not caught up to current security measures, and all this connectivity is leaving us vulnerable to hacking.

NPR Story

11:58 am

Thu July 3, 2014

German Labour and Social Affairs Minister Andrea Nahles (C) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C, R) cast their ballot during a vote on a bill for a national minimum wage on July 3 in Berlin. (Clemens Bilan/AFP Photo)

The German Parliament voted today to set the country’s first national minimum wage, 8.5 euros, which is $11.60 per hour. The new minimum wage will be phased in starting next year.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government supported the move at the insistence of her government coalition partners, the center-left Social Democrats. The minimum wage passed over arguments that it would hurt Germany’s economy, which is Europe’s largest.

The Fourth of July is almost upon us, and for many people that means two things: fireworks and grilling. Here & Now resident chef Kathy Gunst may not have pointers on the pyrotechnics, but she sure knows her way around a grill. Kathy’s special ingredient for burgers? Bacon. Lots and lots of bacon. She also shares recipes for a goat cheese crostada, vegetable kebabs, potato salad (with bacon or without) and corn relish:

NPR Story

12:48 pm

Tue July 1, 2014

Today in Brazil, it’s do or die, one and done, all or nothing — and any other sports cliche you can think of to describe the winner-take-all World Cup match between the U.S. and Belgium.

Doug Tribou of NPR’s Only A Game tells Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson that while Belgium is the favorite, the “Red Devils” are pretty banged up and some of their key players may not take to the pitch. Meanwhile, U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann says his team will be going on the attack.